Excavator control architecture for generating sensor location and offset angle

An excavator comprising a machine chassis, an excavating linkage assembly, a dynamic sensor, an excavating implement, and control architecture, wherein:

• the dynamic sensor is positioned on a limb of the excavating linkage assembly;
• the excavating linkage assembly is configured to swing with, or relative to, the machine chassis;
• the excavating implement is mechanically coupled to the excavating linkage assembly;
• and
• the control architecture comprises one or more linkage assembly actuators, and an architecture controller programmed to operate as a partial function of a sensor location ν and an offset angle ϕ to of the dynamic sensor and to execute machine readable instructions to
• pivot the limb on which the dynamic sensor is positioned about a pivot point, wherein the pivot point comprises a terminal pivot point A when the limb is an excavator boom and a terminal pivot point B when the limb is an excavator stick,
• generate a set of dynamic signals (AX, AY, {dot over (θ)}M, {dot over ({circumflex over (θ)})}, {circumflex over (θ)}) at least partially derived from the dynamic sensor, the set of dynamic signals comprising an x-axis acceleration value AX, a y-axis acceleration value AY, a measured angular rate {dot over (θ)}M, an estimated angular rate {dot over ({circumflex over (θ)})}, and an estimated angular position {circumflex over (θ)}, and
• execute an iterative process comprising determining a sensor location estimate νn and an offset angle estimate ϕn, the sensor location estimate νn defined as a distance between the dynamic sensor and the pivot point, the offset angle estimate ϕn of the dynamic sensor defined relative to a limb axis, and the determination comprises the use of an optimization model comprising the set of dynamic signals (AX, AY, {dot over (θ)}M, {dot over ({circumflex over (θ)})}, {circumflex over (θ)}) and one or more error minimization terms,
• wherein the iterative process is repeated n times to generate a set of sensor location estimates (ν1, ν2, . . . , νn) and a set of angle offset estimates (ϕ1, ϕ2, . . . , ϕn) until n exceeds an iteration threshold t, and the architecture controller generates the sensor location ν and the offset angle ϕ based on the set of sensor location estimates (ν1, ν2, . . . , νn), the set of angle offset estimates (ϕ1, ϕ2, . . . , ϕn), and the one or more error minimization terms.

An excavator comprising a machine chassis, an excavating linkage assembly, a dynamic sensor, an excavating implement, and control architecture, wherein:

• the excavating linkage assembly comprises an excavator boom, an excavator stick, a boom coupling, a stick coupling, and an implement coupling;
• the dynamic sensor is positioned on a limb, wherein the limb is one of the excavator boom and the excavator stick;
• the excavating linkage assembly is configured to swing with, or relative to, the machine chassis about a swing axis S of the excavator;
• the excavator stick is configured to curl relative to the excavator boom about a curl axis C of the excavator;
• the excavator stick is mechanically coupled to a terminal pivot point B of the excavator stick via the stick coupling;
• the machine chassis is mechanically coupled to a terminal pivot point A of the excavator boom via the boom coupling;
• the excavating implement is mechanically coupled to a terminal point G of the excavator stick via the implement coupling;
• and
• the control architecture comprises one or more linkage assembly actuators, and an architecture controller programmed to operate as a partial function of a sensor location ν and an offset angle ϕ of the dynamic sensor and to execute machine readable instructions to
• pivot the limb on which the dynamic sensor is positioned about a pivot point, wherein the pivot point comprises the terminal pivot point A when the limb is the excavator boom and the terminal pivot point B when the limb is the excavator stick,
• generate a set of dynamic signals (AX, AY, {dot over (θ)}M, {dot over ({circumflex over (θ)})}, {circumflex over (θ)}) at least partially derived from the dynamic sensor, the set of dynamic signals comprising an x-axis acceleration value AX, a y-axis acceleration value AY, a measured angular rate {dot over (θ)}M, an estimated angular rate {dot over ({circumflex over (θ)})}, and an estimated angular position {circumflex over (θ)}, and
• execute an iterative process comprising:
• determining a sensor location estimate νn and an offset angle estimate ϕn, the sensor location estimate νn defined as a distance between the dynamic sensor and the pivot point, the offset angle estimate ϕn of the dynamic sensor defined relative to a limb axis, and the determination comprises the use of an optimization model comprising the set of dynamic signals (AX, AY, {dot over (θ)}M, {dot over ({circumflex over (θ)})}, {circumflex over (θ)}) and one or more error minimization terms, the optimization model is a function of gravitational acceleration g, an estimation error e, a tangential acceleration AT of the dynamic sensor, a dynamic angular acceleration of the dynamic sensor over time {umlaut over ({circumflex over (θ)})}, a dynamic angular rate of the dynamic sensor over time {dot over ({circumflex over (θ)})}, and an initial start angle θ between the terminal pivot points A and B of the excavator boom and the excavator stick relative to horizontal,
• determining a total error based on the optimization model and the set of dynamic signals (AX, AY, {dot over (θ)}M, {dot over ({circumflex over (θ)})}, {circumflex over (θ)}), and
• comparing the total error against an optimization threshold;
• and
• wherein the iterative process is repeated n times to generate a set of sensor location estimates (ν1, ν2, . . . , νn) and a set of angle offset estimates (ϕ1, ϕ2, . . . , ϕn) until n exceeds an iteration threshold t and the total error is less than the optimization threshold to minimize drift, and the architecture controller generates the sensor location ν and the offset angle ϕ based on the set of sensor location estimates (ν1,ν2, . . . , νn), the set of angle offset estimates, (ϕ1, ϕ2, . . . , ϕn), and the total error.